NOAA's
Satellite Command and Data Acquisition Station in Fairbanks, Alaska, is ready to spot activity
at the North Pole. NORAD will answer children's questions on
its comprehensive, six-language Santa tracking website at http://www.noradsanta.org.
All site material, including the live tracking event, will be
available in English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian and
Brazilian Portuguese.

NORAD will also attempt to set the record
straight in regards to outrageous allegations that have been
made by several fifth grade students as to the existence of Santa
Claus. Seeing is believing and NORAD has perfected its 47-year-old
tradition of tracking Santa on Christmas Eve. Visual and audio
updates will be posted hourly on the website from 7:00 a.m.,
Dec. 24 EST to 5:00 a.m., Dec. 25 EST.

2001 Program

The 2001 NORAD Tracks Santa Team again
includes America Online, who
will host the site on an extensive network of servers, and Analytical Graphics who created
the site and all supporting imagery with NORAD. The Web pages
were updated this year by Etheriel
Web Publications. In addition, Globelink Services International
coordinated the extensive translation required for the Web site.
All the organizations and volunteers who help make this global
NORAD Christmas project possible do so at no cost to the taxpayer.
For more information, call Major Douglas Martin at (719) 554-5816
or 2608 or 6889.

NOAA's National
Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service is
the nation's primary source of space-based meteorological and
climate data. NOAA Satellite and Data Service operates the nation's
environmental satellites, which, in addition to helping track
Santa Claus, are used for weather forecasting, climate monitoring,
and other environmental applications such as fire detection,
ozone monitoring, and sea surface temperature measurements.